fix: explore tab first-click navigation and misleading empty state

Clear stale currentChannelId when clicking Explore/DMs in ServerSidebar,
and guard AppLayout route effect from clobbering showExplore. Move member
exclusion into SQL for correct pagination/totals, surface allSettled errors,
and show context-aware empty state messages.

packages/server/src/routes/explore.ts

@@ -195,6 +195,11 @@ export async function exploreRoutes(app: FastifyInstance): Promise<void> {
     // which is more efficient to do with raw SQL
     const rawDb = (db as any).$client as import('better-sqlite3').Database;
 
+    // Count ALL discoverable servers (including ones the user has joined) for context
+    const totalAllRow = rawDb.prepare(
+      `SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT s.id) as total FROM servers s WHERE s.visibility IN ('public', 'request')`
+    ).get() as { total: number };
+
     let countSql = `SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT s.id) as total FROM servers s WHERE s.visibility IN ('public', 'request')`;
     let querySql = `
       SELECT s.id, s.name, s.icon, s.description, s.visibility, s.created_at,
@@ -204,7 +209,15 @@ export async function exploreRoutes(app: FastifyInstance): Promise<void> {
       WHERE s.visibility IN ('public', 'request')
     `;
 
-    const params: string[] = [];
+    const params: (string | number)[] = [];
+
+    // Exclude servers the user is already in — do this in SQL for correct total/pagination
+    if (myServerIds.size > 0) {
+      const placeholders = [...myServerIds].map(() => '?').join(',');
+      querySql += ` AND s.id NOT IN (${placeholders})`;
+      countSql += ` AND s.id NOT IN (${placeholders})`;
+      params.push(...myServerIds);
+    }
 
     if (q) {
       const likePattern = `%${q}%`;
@@ -226,20 +239,17 @@ export async function exploreRoutes(app: FastifyInstance): Promise<void> {
       member_count: number;
     }[];
 
-    // Filter out servers the user is already a member of
+    const servers: ExploreServer[] = rows.map(r => ({
-    const servers: ExploreServer[] = rows
+      id: r.id,
-      .filter(r => !myServerIds.has(r.id))
+      name: r.name,
-      .map(r => ({
+      icon: r.icon,
-        id: r.id,
+      description: r.description,
-        name: r.name,
+      visibility: r.visibility as ExploreServer['visibility'],
-        icon: r.icon,
+      memberCount: r.member_count,
-        description: r.description,
+      createdAt: r.created_at,
-        visibility: r.visibility as ExploreServer['visibility'],
+    }));
-        memberCount: r.member_count,
-        createdAt: r.created_at,
-      }));
 
-    return reply.code(200).send({ servers, total: totalRow.total, discoveryEnabled: true });
+    return reply.code(200).send({ servers, total: totalRow.total, totalAll: totalAllRow.total, discoveryEnabled: true });
   });
 
   // POST /api/servers/:id/public-join — join a public server without invite

packages/web/src/components/chat/ExplorePage.tsx

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ export function ExplorePage() {
   const myRequests = useExploreStore((s) => s.myRequests);
   const isLoading = useExploreStore((s) => s.isLoading);
   const discoveryEnabled = useExploreStore((s) => s.discoveryEnabled);
+  const totalAll = useExploreStore((s) => s.totalAll);
   const error = useExploreStore((s) => s.error);
   const searchQuery = useExploreStore((s) => s.searchQuery);
   const setSearchQuery = useExploreStore((s) => s.setSearchQuery);
@@ -106,7 +107,11 @@ export function ExplorePage() {
               <path d="M12 2C6.48 2 2 6.48 2 12s4.48 10 10 10 10-4.48 10-10S17.52 2 12 2zm0 18c-4.41 0-8-3.59-8-8s3.59-8 8-8 8 3.59 8 8-3.59 8-8 8zm-5.5-2.5l7.51-3.49L17.5 6.5 9.99 9.99 6.5 17.5zm5.5-6.6c.61 0 1.1.49 1.1 1.1s-.49 1.1-1.1 1.1-1.1-.49-1.1-1.1.49-1.1 1.1-1.1z" />
             </svg>
             <p className="text-txt-tertiary text-sm">
-              {searchQuery ? 'No servers match your search.' : 'No discoverable servers found.'}
+              {searchQuery
+                ? 'No servers match your search.'
+                : totalAll > 0
+                  ? `You've already joined all ${totalAll} discoverable server${totalAll === 1 ? '' : 's'}.`
+                  : 'No servers have been made discoverable yet.'}
             </p>
           </div>
         ) : (

packages/web/src/components/layout/AppLayout.tsx

@@ -183,7 +183,9 @@ export function AppLayout() {
   // Handle route params
   useEffect(() => {
     if (serverId === '@me') {
-      setShowDms(true);
+      if (!useUIStore.getState().showExplore) {
+        setShowDms(true);
+      }
       setCurrentServer(null);
     } else if (serverId) {
       setShowDms(false);

packages/web/src/components/layout/ServerSidebar.tsx

@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ export function ServerSidebar() {
   const setShowExplore = useUIStore((s) => s.setShowExplore);
   const openModal = useUIStore((s) => s.openModal);
   const addToast = useUIStore((s) => s.addToast);
+  const setCurrentChannel = useChatStore((s) => s.setCurrentChannel);
   const unreadChannels = useChatStore((s) => s.unreadChannels);
   const instances = useInstanceStore((s) => s.instances);
   const navigate = useNavigate();
@@ -188,12 +189,14 @@ export function ServerSidebar() {
   const handleDmClick = () => {
     setShowDms(true);
     setCurrentServer(null);
+    setCurrentChannel(null);
     navigate('/channels/@me');
   };
 
   const handleExploreClick = () => {
     setShowExplore(true);
     setCurrentServer(null);
+    setCurrentChannel(null);
     navigate('/channels/@me');
   };
 

packages/web/src/stores/exploreStore.ts

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ interface ExploreState {
   searchQuery: string;
   isLoading: boolean;
   discoveryEnabled: boolean;
+  totalAll: number;
   error: string | null;
 
   fetchServers: (query?: string) => Promise<void>;
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ export const useExploreStore = create<ExploreState>((set, get) => ({
   searchQuery: '',
   isLoading: false,
   discoveryEnabled: true,
+  totalAll: 0,
   error: null,
 
   fetchServers: async (query?: string) => {
@@ -59,20 +61,30 @@ export const useExploreStore = create<ExploreState>((set, get) => ({
         ),
       ]);
 
+      const fulfilled = results.filter(r => r.status === 'fulfilled') as PromiseFulfilledResult<{ servers: ExploreServer[]; total: number; totalAll?: number; discoveryEnabled: boolean; origin: string }>[];
+      const rejected = results.filter(r => r.status === 'rejected');
+
+      // If ALL instances failed, surface an error
+      if (fulfilled.length === 0 && rejected.length > 0) {
+        set({ isLoading: false, error: 'Failed to reach any server for discovery' });
+        return;
+      }
+
       const allServers: TaggedExploreServer[] = [];
       const seen = new Set<string>(); // dedup by serverId+origin
       let homeDiscoveryEnabled = true;
+      let totalAllSum = 0;
 
-      for (const result of results) {
+      for (const result of fulfilled) {
-        if (result.status !== 'fulfilled') continue;
+        const { servers, discoveryEnabled, totalAll, origin } = result.value;
-
-        const { servers, discoveryEnabled, origin } = result.value;
 
         // Track home instance discovery state
         if (!origin) {
           homeDiscoveryEnabled = discoveryEnabled;
         }
 
+        totalAllSum += totalAll ?? 0;
+
         for (const server of servers) {
           const key = `${server.id}:${origin}`;
           if (seen.has(key)) continue;
@@ -84,6 +96,7 @@ export const useExploreStore = create<ExploreState>((set, get) => ({
       set({
         servers: allServers,
         discoveryEnabled: homeDiscoveryEnabled,
+        totalAll: totalAllSum,
         isLoading: false,
       });
     } catch (err) {
@@ -139,6 +152,7 @@ export const useExploreStore = create<ExploreState>((set, get) => ({
     searchQuery: '',
     isLoading: false,
     discoveryEnabled: true,
+    totalAll: 0,
     error: null,
   }),
 }));